Maybe six feet ain't so far down
by Penguin-Major Nora
Summary: My first Zim fic.. *staples 'N00b: Newbie!' sign to forehead* A very odd fic, complete with blood, skool picture day, and frozen cupcakes. Title from a Creed song that I don't really like, but it seemed to fit.


A/N: I came up with the idea for this on my own, and then went to FFN and found a million fics like it. Oh well. ^_^ 

Disclaimer: WHEN THE WORLD IS MINE AND I RULE IT WITH MY IRON FIST, I WILL OWN INVADER ZIM AND ALL OTHER STUFFIES IN THIS FIC! But until then, I tell you people that want to sue me, OBEY THE FIST! *waves fist in suers face* Pustullio commands you NOT TO SUE ME!! Or.. or.. I'LL EAT YOU! And ask any Normcrowd person, I EAT PEOPLE ALL THE TIME AND AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF EATING YOUR SORRY.. REAR END. Okay, on with the fic. 

-+- 

"Gir, I have a plan this time, to stop Dib from thwarting my evil plans any longer!" The Irken said, pacing his laboratory, eyes narrowed. 

"Yay! What's thwart?" 

-+- 

"Gaz, get up! It's time for skool!" Dib's voice echoed from the hallway. 

"I don't feel like going to skool today." Gaz said, coughing. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up. But that might just be you." 

"Gaz.." 

"Dib, tell dad I'm staying home, okay?" 

"K. Um, I'll be late tonight, I have this great plan for getting Zim to stop trying to take over the world. If you get a message on your message-transmitter thingie, it's me, k?" her brother said, walking into the living room and getting his backpack. "Seeya after skool!" Gaz didn't answer. Dib slammed the door behind him, walking with a skip in his step. "I'll get him this time," he muttered to himself, not aware of the amount of times he said that before. "That alien is mine.." 

-+- 

"Bye, Gir! Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone!" 

"Can I go get some cupcakes?" 

"No, Gir." The android's eyes welled up with tears. "There's a box of Hostess cupcakes in the freezer." 

"YAAY! Frozen cupcakes!" Gir said, dashing off to tell Pig. Zim rolled his eyes and walked outside. 

-+- 

And the day went by, boring as usual. The girl in back of Dib fell asleep in the middle of one of the preaches of doom, and by the end of the day, Zim could balance a pencil almost perfectly on his upper lip. At the end of the day, Ms. Bitters held them all after class. 

"Now, you pathetic children, you all MUST be present at skool Friday, for it is SKOOL PICTURE DAY!" The class groaned. 

-+- 

Gaz opened her eyes, light pouring out her window. She blinked. "Damn, how long have I been sleeping?" she mumbled to herself, sitting up and closing her curtains. 

She looked over at her clock, yawning.. "3:05?! I slept all day, sheesh.." A glass of orange juice was on her bedside table, and a few cough drops. She unwrapped one of the cough drops and sucked on it. After spending about 10 minutes staring at the ceiling, she got her Gameslave and started playing (it was also on her bedside table). 

"Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin', maybe six feet ain't so far down.." She hummed without thinking about it. She was actually in a somewhat good mood and had no idea where that song came from (she couldn't even remember where she heard it). But it ran through her head anyway, but she forgot about it as soon as a vampire piggy ran up to the character on her screen and tried to bite it. Rolling her eyes, she went back to her game. 

-+- 

Zim walked outside, checking behind him, just to make sure that Dib was following him. Of course, the stupid human is following me, the stupid human is ALWAYS following me, Zim thought to himself. 

Dib, making sure the alien wasn't looking, checked his computer again, and checked to see if the program would work. It did. "Perfect," he whispered to himself. Zim turned around to glare at him, but Dib didn't notice. 

Dib waited a few minutes after Zim went inside, hiding behind the fence. When he saw Gir running outside, he figured that Zim was occupied, else he wouldn't let Gir outside. He ran up to the front door and ducked inside before the gnomes could get to him. He looked outside the window and saw Gir running down the street. He was safe: for now. 

-+- 

Zim sat in his lab, waiting for Dib to fall into the trap. He had turned off all the security around his house so Dib could get inside. Dib didn't know what was being planned to kill him, but then, neither did Zim. The human came inside the lab just when he expected. 

"Computer. Detect intruder. Cage." Zim shouted into the machine while Dib pounded on his keyboard. Zim's red eyes widened as a cage fell on him, trapping him inside the lab. One fell on Dib, too. 

"GIR! Get in here! Let me out!" Zim called upstairs. No answer. 

"Gir!!!" 

"It'll be no help, alien boy. Your robot can't help you, only I know the password to let you out." Dib said from his little cage, smirking. "If you let me out, I would consider helping you out, however.." 

"I would never help you, stupid human scum. Anyway, only Gir knows the password, and he's apparently not around." Zim immediately regretted trusting the SIR with anything. "But I can kill you right here, right now, human.. stupid.. human. I can kill you right here, though." 

"You have never succeeded before, Zim, you won't be able to kill me now, or ever!" Dib taunted, immediately regretting it as Zim screamed at his computer. 

"Lasers, on." 

"On." 

"Destroy intruder." 

"Identify intruder." The house's voice called. 

"There is more then one intruder? Identify multiple intruders." 

"Intruder: Dib. Intruder: Zim." Zim raised an eyebrow. While Zim talked to the computer, Dib pressed some buttons on the message transmitter on his arm. 

"Gaz? Gaz, I need your help! GAZ!" 

-+- 

At about 3:45, the machine on Gaz's bedside table beeped. She paused her game, looking over at the table. "Where's that from?" she said to herself, sorting through the pile of junk, until she got to the other end of a transmitter given to her by Dib the day before. When she pressed the "on" button, there was her brother's face, screaming. 

"Gaz? Gaz, I need your help! GAZ!" She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Dib looking like that, that frantic. 

"What happened?" She said, trying to sound nonchalant. 

"I'm in Zim's labritory. He's got me trapped. He's about to try to kill me. Please help me!" 

"Okay, okay, I'm coming.." She said, yawning. The transmission clicked, and she put the transmitter on her bed, pulling her normal clothes on over her pajamas, then running outside. 

"Zim's house is that way, I think. I hope." She said to herself, straining her memory. She wouldn't have thought of it, but she really was ignoring Dib, and she had forgotten most of the stuff he ranted to her about Zim. She instantly regretted this. 

She was getting closer, closer, and she saw the gnomes that Dib had told her about so many times while she tried to concentrate on her Gameslave. She ran up to the door and opened it. The gnomes did not attack. She opened the door, waiting for a large robotic arm to grab her and begin to slowly bleed her to death, like in level fifty-two and three quarters of Vampire Piggies, but none did. It was almost as if she had just realized what she was doing, her heart was thumping a million times a second. 

Suddenly, she heard a zapping sound that had to be right out of some video game.. 

-+- 

"Please don't work, please don't work, let the lasers be broken, let the computer break, let something.. anything.. stop this from happening.." Dib whispered to himself, but not even Zim was listening. "Gaz, please help me, please, someone, anyone.." 

Zim turned around to glare at his enemy. "You're going to die now, Dib. Do you realize that?" His voice already dripped with victory, he seemed to have forgotten that he was stuck here forever. "Lasers, on. Target: Intruder Dib." Dib braced himself, and Zim shot. Once, twice, with that godawful zapping noise. Dib shuddered, the pain soaring through his body. He checked for his weapon.. And yes, he had it! He took out a small water pistol and shot at Zim, who sizzled and screamed. The computer kept shooting lasers at Dib, and he could tell he was weakoning.. 

-+- 

"Just like a video game, just like a video game.." Gaz told herself, hoping that this would be as easy as saving Dib was when Zim was going to do evil experiments on him. She had a nasty feeling, though, that Zim learned from that. That song was running through her head again, and she could hear that all-to-familiar laser zapping sound. Using what she remembered from Dib's description, she had to go down the toilet to get into the lab. She shuddered. 

-+- 

Dib could tell his gun was running low on water, and he hadn't thought that he would need any more when he packed his backpack that morning. Zim just kept shooting, and though the lasers weren't that high powered, they had broken the skin in quite a few places, and his hair was standing on end. And Zim was laughing. 

Dib knew that if Gaz, or someone else, did not come sometime soon, he would be trapped in there forever. Of course, Zim would be too, but he would, eventually, find a way out of his cage. That's what Zim did. 

Dib used up the last of the water in his gun, and Zim stopped shooting the laser for a second, the pain was too bad for him. Dib smiled grimly to himself, and leaned backward, when he heard a voice from his left. 

"Dib!" Gaz called. "Dib, you look awful.. What did you do? Why are you in a cage?" 

"Gaz, you need to smash that computer." Dib said horsely, holding onto a place on his arm where he had a bad burn, and it was bleeding slightly. "If you do, he can stop shooting.." 

Zim screamed at his computers to shoot Gaz, too, and they did. "Laser beam level up." The lasers got denser, easier to do damage. One barely missed Gaz's throat. Dib sucked in his breath, regretting calling Gaz in the first place. Luckily, Zim's lasers couldn't do too bad damage, as it took a lot longer for the system to make another beam. 

"Lasers, focus on Dib and Gaz. Kill." Zim said, surprised at his own command. He never thought it would come to killing before.. 

"Zim, you'll never get out of that cage without my help!" Dib called from his cell. While Gaz ran over to the computer to smash it, she thought that her brother and the alien looked quite strange, sitting there in glowing pink cages in the middle of a laboratory, but she didn't have too much time to think about that. 

Ducking a laser beam, she found herself at the computer. She kicked at it, another beam hurling at her, but this time it was so fast she couldn't move in time. It hit her right arm, sending an electric jolt through her. She winced and tried to ignore the pain. "I've gotta destroy the computer, or we'll both be dead.." She muttered, giving the computer a hard kick. 

"Your stupid little human worm sister can't help you now, Dib.." Either the pool of blood on the ground was enough to make Dib's brain stop working or the beams were getting slower. Gaz kicked the machine again, and the beams stopped. With her left hand, she smashed the monitor. Zim's eyes widened. 

-+A few minutes earlier+- 

Gir was at the Hi-Skool's winter dance, looking cute in his dog costume. He was about one fifth the size of the people there, but no one seemed to care. 

When the janitor, who was playing DJ, went on the intercom and told them it was time to leave, Gir frowned. He didn't wanna go home! 

One of the teenage girls gave him a ride, dropping him off in front of the weird house with gnomes. Gir liked these dances. Next week, he got to go to a club again! He was very exited. He desided not to go downstairs, as the laser-sounds were scary. He wondered what was going on, but quickly forgot when the Scary Monkey Show came on. 

Suddenly, the laser sounds stopped, and the TV's screen went black. The lights that were connected to the main generator went off. Gir stared around blankly. 

"I WANNA WATCH THE SCARY MONKEY SHOW!!" He desided to go downstairs and tell Zim that the electricity failed, and see what else was going on. And see if his master could get the TV to work again.. 

-+- 

Either it was the lack of bloodflow to Dib's brain again, or the lights had just gone off. 

"Zim.. you.. will.. never.. get.. away.. with.. this.." He gasped. Gaz stared around, stunned, her adrenaline rush coming to a screeching halt. "Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin', maybe six feet ain't so far down.." she whispered to herself. 

Dib! She needed to get Dib, and get him out of here. She was surprised at so helpless Dib looked, not at all his annoying, paranormal self. He looked like a person who was going to bleed to death. Bleed to death! She jumped down toward him, but he was still in the cage. On second thought, so was Zim. She glanced over at Zim. She was surprised at the amount of damage that Dib had done with that pathetic water pistol. Stop thinking about Zim, she thought. Gotta get to Dib, save Dib.. 

"Dib, the computer's broken, and the lasers are stopped.." The song continued ringing through her head. 

Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin', maybe six feet ain't so far down.. 

"Dib? Dib, please.." Gaz put her hands on the outside of Dib's cage. "Please don't die, please come out, Dib, please.." 

"Gaz, don't stay in here any more. You won't be able to figure out the password for the cage. You won't be able to get me out. Please don't put yourself in any more danger, leave me here." 

"Password.. I thought this'd be easy.." She didn't know there was a password, and she had been focused on stopping the lasers before. 

"There's not time, and that little robot thing could get in here and kill you, too, Gaz. Thanks, for trying to save me.." The pool of blood got bigger, and Dib saw everything go black. 

"Dib, I won't leave you here, I love you.." Gaz pressed her hand against the metal sides of the cage, but they were't there anymore. There was no cage. "Wha.. Was that the password?" 

"I thought of it myself!" A high-pitched voice said. Gaz looked up. It was Zim's stupid robot thingie.. Gir. She was grateful for it's obnoxious cheerfulness then. Gaz didn't remember much of what happened after that, it was all in a daze.. 

-+- 

Gaz sat next to Dib on their living room couch, attempting to play her Gameslave with her right arm in a cast. Dib was reading another paranormal magazine, but he didn't turn the pages at all, and seemed to be staring oddly into space. 

"Gaz?" 

"Hm?" She looked up from her game, making sure she paused it first. 

"Should I stop going after Zim?" Dib's face was blank. Gaz looked stunned. 

"What would you do then? How could you save the world?" At the same time, she wanted to ask, "What new way are you going to try to get yourself killed?", but didn't. She was still somewhat stunned that he would even try to change his entire lifestyle like that. 

"I don't know.." 

-+- 

Dib had completely forgotten that it was picture day that Friday. It was his first day back, and he still had a giant bandage on his face, and was on crutches. He was disappointed to see Zim back in class, he and Gir must have figured out how to get out of the cage thingie. He made quite a contrast with all the dressed up children with his bandages and cast, but this time, he didn't care. He was happy to even be alive and able to come. 

-+- 

After lunch, the whole skool assembled on the playground, against the wall. After the principal spent a long period of time getting them to all stand up straight, and be still, Gir ran on the playground for absolutely no reason. Zim tried to shoo him away, but a month later, all the children went home with pictures of a strange green dog, with a blurry background. 

-+- 

A/N: Like it? Please tell me in a review! Constructive criticism is welcome, as are compliments, flames, death threats, love letters, brainfreezies, frikken cookies, worshipping (yeah, right), and random babbling. 


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